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Level Creation Guide
This page will help you create levels in LittleBigPlanet. Materials These are the basic materials of LittleBigPlanet. Materials are used to create objects and levels in the create mode. Other materials are found on your journey through LittleBigPlanet in prize bubbles. The other materials you find have the same properties as their basic material (for example, the ‘wooden struts’ material has the same properties as the ‘wood’material). When you select the type of material you want, you can then select the shape of the material. As you progress through the game, you will unlock more shapes. Hold down to drag material around the level you are creating. Press to delete material. Tools Bag The items in the Tools Bag allow you to hold objects together. There are six windows in the Tools Bag: Tools, Gadgets, Gameplay Kits, Audio Objects, Backgrounds, and Global Controls. The first window of the Tools Bag has several unique tools. It also brings together many of the Function tools from other Popit windows in one place. This menu's unique tools include the danger tools you've collected as well as the Corner Editor. Danger tools Danger tools allow you to add hazards to objects, such as fire and poison. You can return any lethal object back to its inert state using the Unlethalize Tool found to the right of the danger tools. Note that the different danger tools affect people differently. For example, using the Electric Tool or the Horrible Gas Tool means an instant death to anybody who touches it, though objects with fire from the Flame Tool will singe a player before they are killed completely. Corner Editor The Corner Editor allows you to make precise adjustments to the shapes you have made. Select it from the Popit window, and tap over the object you wish to adjust. The Popit Cursor is now restricted to the borders of the object you have selected. Move your cursor along the edge of the object until you reach the point you wish to alter. Tap again and you are able to pull and push the dimensions of the edge you have selected. Tap once more to set the alteration. You can change the shape of the object by introducing multiple vertices on the object. Simply select a side of your object and push/pull the corners until you have created a shape you desire. Using this method, almost anything can be created. Gadgets Moving to the next window in your Tools Bag brings you to the Gadgets section. These are the elements that hold objects together and add action to objects. Bolts If you want to make something with moving parts, then you'll want to use Bolts. Bolts allow you to join one item to another and can help you do anything from make a teeter-totter to attach a branch to a tree. To use a Bolt, select it from the Tools Bag and place it over the object you wish to bolt. Next, exit out of the Tools Bag and bring out the Popit Cursor. Select the object you wish to bolt and place it over the object you want to bolt it to. Once placed, the Bolt connects the two objects. You may also pre-place the two objects with the Popit Cursor, then select a Bolt from your Tools Bag and place it over the two to connect them. String String is another connector. It allows you to tie two objects together. To attach String, first select it from the Popit Menu and attach it with to one of the objects you want to connect. Pull the other end of the String to the second object and tap once more. Build a small structure and attach a few sponges to the ceiling to get the swing of it. Rods Rods work much like String and are good for connecting objects together. However, unlike String, once you set a Rod's length, it cannot bunch or stretch. "Is It Stiff?" is another interesting option found in the Rods Tweak Menu. When switched on, the selected Rod is set to its anchor without any pivot in its hinges. Tweaking Bolts, Strings, and Rods are your first experiences with adjustable items. Tweaking allows you to adjust the settings of a tool so it behaves the way you would like it to. To open the Tweak window, place the Popit Cursor over an adjustable tool and tap . You can also bring up the Tweak window by holding down while placing the tool. Inside the window, you gain access to all adjustable features of a tool. Bolts allow you to set their strength. The higher the strength setting, the less the Bolt can budge. Strings and Rods let you alter their length. Strings can bunch up shorter than the length you set, but cannot stretch any longer. Rods cannot bunch or stretch outside their length setting. Glue Glue is a function of your Popit Cursor, not a tool. Glue creates a solid connection between two objects or an object and the floor. To use Glue, select an object with the Popit Cursor and move it where you would like to place it, either against another object or on the floor, and hold down . When the Popit Cursor detaches from the object, the glue is set. To separate the objects, select one with your Popit Cursor and tap . Tap twice to delete an object. Creating gaps Once you have created an elevated walkway, you can create gaps as minor obstacles. To create a gap, choose any material out of the Goodies Bag and select the shape you wish your gap to be. Use to cut the shape out of your walkway. This technique can also be used to create decorative features within the walkway. Creating tunnels Tunneling allows you to cut out shapes and walkways from one material using another. Try making a large block, three layers deep, out of Basic Metal. Then choose Basic Glass from your materials and select the square shape. Adjust the size to something slightly larger than your sack person and set it to the back-most plane. Next, ensure your glass is only one plane deep. Starting from the base of the metal structure, stamp down your glass and move it across the bottom of the metal block. This should result in the formation of a tunnel running through the base of the metal. Platforming Using Basic Metal once again, create another large block of approximately the same size as what you created for the tunneling tutorial. However, this one should only be one layer deep and placed on the farthest back plane. Return to your material selection window and choose Basic Cardboard and select the square shape. Adjust your cardboard so that it is approximately the height and width of your sack person and set its depth to cover all three planes. Stamp several blocks into the metal to create a series of platforms. You can also drag the cardboard across the metal to create a solid path. Creating rocking walkways Select Basic Cardboard and choose the teardrop shape. If you have yet to earn the teardrop, you can create it using the circle and triangle shapes. Turn the teardrop on its side and adjust its depth to one layer. Make its size roughly three times taller than your Sackperson at its highest point, and stamp it down. Return to the shape selection window and select the triangle. Increase its size and rotate it to cover the top arc of the teardrop you just placed. Tap to delete the covered section. Next, select Basic Sponge from the Materials window and set its shape to circle. Make the circle roughly the size of your Sackperson's head, and line the top of the teardrop as well as the top lip. Swing To create a swing, select Basic Wood to form the stand for a sponge. Construct a small base, column, and support bar. All can be achieved with the square shape. First, construct a small base, and then narrow the size of your square and drag the wood upward from the center of the base to create your column. Lastly, when the column is of a sufficient height, increase the wood’s depth and stamp it down to create the support beam. Return to the Materials window and select Basic Sponge. Choose the circle shape and place it midway up the column on the layer beneath your support beam. Exit out to the main Popit menu and scroll down to your Tools Bag, select String, and attach one end to the sponge and the other to the support beam. Creating hoops Use Basic Cardboard to make a large circle one layer deep. Shrink the circle’s proportions slightly and use to carve a smaller circle out of the larger one you just placed. You can then jump inside and travel over hazards or just roll around. Unique Materials There are four unique materials that are fairly different that normal materials. Dissolve Select Dissolve from the Basic Materials section of the Materials window in your Goodies Bag. Try dropping down a few small shapes and let your Sackperson drag them around a bit. Dissolve has the same basic characteristics as Polystyrene. Next, choose the square shape and place a wall of insurmountable height in your sack person’s path. Leave the wall in place and continue on. Dark Matter Dark Matter is unmovable. Wherever you place Dark Matter is where it stays. Peach Floaty Peach Floaty is literally lighter than air. If not held or attached to something it will automatically fly up to sky. Even though, Peach Floaty can only elevete a determined amount of weight. Pink Floaty Pink Floaty always stays neutral, or at least neutrally buoyant. Pink Floaty stays exactly where you place it until it is bumped. More Tools Bag The Gadgets Window The Gadgets Window is one of the most important things to use in creating your own level. Advanced Connectors There's a lot more to connectors than just basic Bolts, Strings, and Rods. Sprung Bolt A Sprung Bolt works like a normal Bolt, but adds a little bounce. Create a basic seesaw, but this time use a Sprung Bolt. Open the Tweak menu and adjust the resting angle. The orange marker in the center of the Bolt represents the new resting angle. The strength setting determines just how much spring is in your Sprung Bolt. Elastic Elastic works just like String, though like it's name suggests, it's elastic. This connector can be bunched up shorter than its length setting and also stretched out further. How stretchy it is depends on its strength setting. The stronger you make your Elastic, the less it can be stretched. Spring Similar to Elastic, Spring behaves just like Rod but is springy. As with Rod, you may also make a Spring stiff. Understanding Strength It is important to understand the effect of a strength setting for your stretching connectors. When set to 0.0, your connector has no elasticity and provides no resistance. If set to 10.0, your connector behaves almost identically to its non-stretchy counterparts such as String or Rod. Length When adjusting stretchy connectors, their length is displayed with a white and orange line. White identifies the actual length of the connector, whereas orange shows how much it is being stretched. Winch The Winch is another example of String like connectors, but the difference here is this tool has been mechanized. Use a Winch to replace the Spring connector on your swing and pull up its Tweak Menu. Winches have two length options under basic settings: Maximum Length and Minimum Length. The three green marks on your Winch represent its movement based on these length settings. The first green marker, paired with the orange marker, identifies the Winch’s base. The center green marker shows its Minimum Length and the last marker displays Maximum Length. As always, your strength setting determines the integrity and power of your connector. Piston The Piston is a cross between Winches and Rods. Its Tweak Menu has all the same features as the Winch, with the additional stiffness setting. This connector is ideal for controlled up/down or side-to-side motion. Flipper Motion The way activating Flipper Motion affects the motion of your connectors is essential to understand. The In and Out options are in relation to the connector’s base, identified by the orange marker. If used incorrectly, your connection breaks. Switches Switches give you the ability to decide how, when, and why adjustable objects function. Once you stamp one into the world, simply grab the Connector Tab with the Popit Cursor and attach it to the adjustable objects (such as Wobble Bolts or Pistons) you wish the Switch to control. Scroll down to the Switches section of your Gadgets window to start exploring your activation abilities. Switch Adjustments Sensor Switch The Sensor Switch is the most basic proximity-based Switch. Whenever a you get close to it, the Switch activates. You can adjust how close they need to be. Grab Switch Attach a Grab Switch to any grab-able material and activate it by grabbing that material. Grab Switches have all the adjustments you have come to know and love in a Switch. Dangerous Kit Use the Dangerous Kit in the Gameplay Kits window of your Tools Bag to help add a new layer of intrigue to your level. Dangerous Gameplay Kit items don’t need any help from the hazard tools to have a lethal impact. Spikes Spikes come in two convenient sizes, small and large. Jumping on them will result in a Sackperson being killed. Impact explosives When pressure is added to impact explosives, they will explode. Impact explosives can be grabbed, though they must be handled gently. If they are dropped or handled too hard, they will explode. Trigger explosives Trigger explosives comes in the form of Switches. Simply attach any Switch’s connector tab to a trigger explosive and as soon as the Switch is activated, the bomb will explode. Try using this for traps so the player must use their thinking skills to pass. Explosions and materials Weaker materials like Cardboard, Polystyrene, Sponge, Pink Floaty, Peach Floaty, and Dissolve are destructible. If an explosive goes off near one, they can be partially or even fully destroyed in the blast. Safety blocks The best way to test your constructions is to switch to Play Mode. If, however, you would like to quickly check a level element in Create Mode, you should start out by dropping a safety block. Safety blocks can be any material or item that is non-essential to your level. Once the safety block is stamped down, you can try out your construction and easily reset it by tapping rewind. This is useful because actions and movements performed by Switches and connectors are not undoable steps. Moving parts Springboard To create a springboard, place two squares of Dark Matter at the same height. Separate the squares by the width of the springboard you would like to create. Run a plank of cardboard across their base at your desired height. Finally, attach one end of a Spring to a piece of Dark Matter and the other end to the edges of your plank. Adjust the strength of the springs to give more or less bounce to your board. Place Springboards at the base of tall platforms to get the most bounce out of your board. Moving connectors and Switches Use moving connectors and Switches to create moving parts like elevators and catapults. Winches To make a simple rising winch, place a square of Dark Matter well above your sack person’s head. Place a sponge circle below it within reach of an athletic jump and connect the two with a Winch. Open the Winch’s Tweak Menu to determine its Minimum and Maximum Length as well as its speed and pause interval. Once everything is set to your liking, pull a Grab Switch from your Tools Bag and apply it to the sponge. Attach its Connector Tab to the Winch. Now all you have to do is jump and grab it. Launch pads You can also use Pistons to create launch pads. Utilize cardboard to create a base for your launch pad. Use the octagon shape, embedding the cardboard in the floor so only the top three sides are above floor level. Next, use the square shape to delete a space for your launch pad. Fill the space you have made with a cardboard plank. Place one end of a Piston on the center of your base and the other on the bottom of the plank. Open the Piston’s Tweak Menu and set its Minimum Length to 2.5 and its Maximum Length 5.0. Your Piston’s speed setting affects just how far you will be launched. Set between 10.0s and 20.0s for a controlled boost, and 20.0 to 30.0 for a major blast off. Turn Stiffness on and set Flipper Motion to Out. Now, attach a Button to the plank and fix its Connector Tab to the Piston. Finally, adjust the Button’s Behavior to One-Shot. Leave the Button’s Tweak Menu and have your Sackperson jump onto the Button to test its boosting ability. Elevators and moving walkways To create a basic elevator and moving walkway, build a large platform, then place a small cardboard plank next to the structure so that it runs parallel to the top of the platform. Next, get a Piston from your Tools Bag and connect one end to the floor and the other to the center of your cardboard plank. Open the Piston’s Tweak menu and reduce its Minimum Length to 2.5. Adjust the speed of the Piston relative to its maximum height. For a comfortable ride, try to give between 0.5s and 1.0s for every 10.0 of space traveled between Maximum and Minimum Height. Next, add a small Pause if you would like to give your sack person a larger window to board and exit the elevator. Lastly, choose to make your Piston stiff. You can now travel to the top of the platform with ease. You can use the same technique on the other side of the platform to make a moving walkway. Create a second cardboard plank and place it off the non-elevator side of your platform. Connect it to the platform with a Piston and perform the same adjustments as before. Next, try adding Sensor Switches to the center of each plank and attach their Connector Tabs to the relevant Piston. Adjust their Trigger Radius to the border of the plank. Each moving component now only functions while a sack person is riding it. You can find some great tutorials on how to build elevators and other moving parts at LBPBuilder (a tutorial and blog website). These tutorials were designed using Google Sketchup. 3-way Switches 3-way Switches start standing straight up. Pull it in either direction to activate the Switch. Release the lever to reset it and deactivate the Switch. Dangers Simple crushers Use the same techniques employed in elevator construction to create crushers. Start by making a simple crusher. Run a strip of Dark Matter above your sack person then build a wooden block and rest it on the fl oor below the Dark Matter Strip. Attach the block to your strip with a Piston. Open the Piston’s Tweak Menu, leave the Maximum Length set to its current height and adjust the Minimum Length to its shortest possible setting. Now, activate Stiffness and set Flipper Motion to Out. Any Sackperson caught underneath is going to be crushed. You can also use the Flame Tool to set it ablaze or add a row of spikes to its base. Advanced crushers If you want to go really advanced, try turning your crusher on its side to create a squishing obstacle. Build a crusher as before, but attach it to a wall rather than a ceiling structure, causing the crusher to shoot out at a 90° angle rather than downward. Highlight your creation with your Popit Cursor and copy it, then press R3 to invert the crusher. Place the copied construction so the two crushers meet when fully extended. To ensure your timing is right, open each Piston’s Tweak Menu and set their Movement Phase to 1.0. When you exit the Popit, your two crushers should now be moving in and out in tandem, transforming the two crushers into a squasher. Explosives To create an explosive, place a trigger explosive near the base of a large cardboard structure. Embed several impact explosives into the cardboard, ensuring that each is close enough to another to cause a chain reaction. Place a Button on the floor nearby and attach its Connector Tab to the trigger explosive. Then, have your Sackperson activate the Button to see what will happen. Category:Game Info